ARIPO engages govt over IP registration

RYAN CHIGOCHE

The African Regional and Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) has engaged the government to ease the registration process of Intellectual Property Tools for the local Small to Medium Enterprises and students to encourage the uptake of the tools which are key for business growth.

ARIPO Administrative Council chairperson Willie Mushayi this week told  delegates at a workshop on Integration and Implementation of Intellectual Property (IP) Tools for the ARIPO Member States that SMEs should have IP registration, given their contribution to the economy.

Mushanyi said they are locked in talks with the government so as to assist students and SMEs to easily register their intellectual property.

“We want to make sure that the registration of IPs is not expensive and cumbersome we are trying to stagger the pricing regime so that we have a special facilities for students without compromising on the quality of the work that goes into it and we are in engagement with government to try and subsidise students and SMEs so that they are able to file for application,” Mushanyi said.

“However the starting point is to raise awareness we need to get the message out to them and also fruitful engagement where it matter even out there away from the cities and also try to follow up with innovation coming out from schools we need to pursue each and every creation and make sure we take it through the whole process.”

ARIPO director general  Bemanya Twebaze said it was important for businesses to register as it comes with a lot of benefits.

“…Member States are increasingly adopting various IP tools in their We are now in a Knowledge economy where we use our creativity and innovativeness and this is our intangible assets and our focus is to turn these intangible assets and demonstrate that they can create tangible value.

“We want to turn ideas into assets that can change people’s lives. Previously we have been talking about IP tools from an elitist point of view but we must understand that we have to solve matters, for example, food security. SMEs are branding their products and are making them competitive. They are accessing information so that their tools are going to help us access reliable and credible information as far as IP is concerned,” Twebaze said.